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Mapped: Job Growth in Every U.S. State in 2025
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Key Takeaways
- Missouri posted the fastest job growth in 2025 (+1.7%), while 14 states saw employment decline year-over-year.
- Southern states account for many of the top performers, including North Carolina and South Carolina.
- Texas added the most jobs in absolute terms (+120,700), even as most large states grew by less than 1%.
In 2025, employment growth across the U.S. was modest overall, with 14 states ending the year with fewer jobs than they had in December 2024. At the same time, several Southern states posted some of the strongest gains in the country.
This map shows how payroll employment changed in all 50 states between December 2024 and December 2025, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data via Arizona State University.
Missouri recorded the fastest growth rate at 1.7%, while New Hampshire saw the steepest decline at 0.8%. Overall, 14 states ended the year with fewer jobs than they had in December 2024.
Job Growth by State in 2025
Below, we show the change in employment between December 2024 and December 2025:
| Rank | State | Annual Job Growth 2025 | Absolute Job Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Missouri | 1.7% | 52.2K |
| 2 | North Carolina | 1.5% | 78.0K |
| 3 | South Carolina | 1.3% | 30.8K |
| 4 | Minnesota | 1.2% | 37.3K |
| 5 | Utah | 1.2% | 21.8K |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 1.2% | 73.4K |
| 7 | Arkansas | 1.2% | 16.2K |
| 8 | Idaho | 1.2% | 10.2K |
| 9 | Delaware | 1.1% | 5.4K |
| 10 | Louisiana | 1.1% | 21.7K |
| 11 | Hawaii | 1.0% | 6.6K |
| 12 | New Mexico | 1.0% | 8.8K |
| 13 | Montana | 1.0% | 5.0K |
| 14 | Vermont | 0.9% | 2.9K |
| 15 | Oklahoma | 0.9% | 15.8K |
| 16 | Texas | 0.8% | 120.7K |
| 17 | Ohio | 0.8% | 46.9K |
| 18 | New York | 0.8% | 77.6K |
| 19 | Colorado | 0.8% | 22.9K |
| 20 | Arizona | 0.8% | 24.6K |
| 21 | Michigan | 0.7% | 33.4K |
| 22 | Tennessee | 0.7% | 24.6K |
| 23 | Mississippi | 0.7% | 7.8K |
| 24 | South Dakota | 0.6% | 2.9K |
| 25 | Alabama | 0.4% | 9.1K |
| 26 | Florida | 0.4% | 35.2K |
| 27 | New Jersey | 0.2% | 10.3K |
| 28 | Oregon | 0.2% | 4.1K |
| 29 | Wisconsin | 0.2% | 5.7K |
| 30 | Indiana | 0.2% | 5.5K |
| 31 | Massachusetts | 0.1% | 4.8K |
| 32 | Georgia | 0.1% | 6.2K |
| 33 | Kentucky | 0.1% | 2.3K |
| 34 | Iowa | 0.1% | 1.2K |
| 35 | California | 0.0% | 0.9K |
| 36 | Alaska | 0.0% | 0.0K |
| 37 | Illinois | -0.1% | -5.3K |
| 38 | North Dakota | -0.1% | -0.4K |
| 39 | Connecticut | -0.1% | -2.2K |
| 40 | Virginia | -0.2% | -7.6K |
| 41 | Kansas | -0.2% | -2.8K |
| 42 | Wyoming | -0.3% | -0.8K |
| 43 | Rhode Island | -0.3% | -1.7K |
| 44 | Washington | -0.4% | -14.1K |
| 45 | West Virginia | -0.4% | -3.1K |
| 46 | Maryland | -0.5% | -14.2K |
| 47 | Nevada | -0.5% | -8.6K |
| 48 | Nebraska | -0.6% | -6.4K |
| 49 | Maine | -0.6% | -4.0K |
| 50 | New Hampshire | -0.8% | -6.0K |
Missouri’s 1.7% increase was driven largely by health services and private education, along with leisure and hospitality. Trade, transportation, and utilities saw declines.
North Carolina followed with 1.5% job growth. Construction led job gains in the state, growing by nearly 5%, supported by major investments from Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta.
Given the state’s ample land and power, it hosts 40 data centers, with several others announced or under construction.
Texas added the most jobs overall in 2025, increasing payrolls by 120,700. As a growing hub for high-value manufacturing, finance, and tech, the state has created about 20% of new jobs in the U.S. over the past five years.
By comparison, Maryland shed the most jobs in 2025, dropping by 14,200, with a significant share being federal employees. It lost more federal workers than any other state, significantly dragging down overall job growth.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on unemployment by state in 2025.